AN ESSAY ABOUT BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ADVANTAGE & DISADVANTAGES

A Building Management System (BMS) also known as Building Automation Systems (BAS) are used for
increasing the efficiency of lighting, heating, ventilation and cooling systems in a commercial building.

One of the advantages of this system is that if it is well managed, it will reduce energy consumption, it is
low costs to run, and provide occupants high level of comfort in relation to ventilation, lightings, heating
as well as cooling; which is one of the most important goal or factor for a structure or building, to ensure
comfort. Since having a comfortable work space leads to a pleasant working conditions and enhances
the productivity for the office workers. One example is with a timely, self-adjusting HVAC system based
temperature-based data; the indoor environment can provide comfort to the average employee, leading
to fewer sick days. Another advantage is that it is sustainable, since due to the reduced energy
consumption, it greatly reduces the environmental footprint from commercial structures as well the
emission of greenhouse gases that is considered very threatening and harmful in the environment,
especially to our health, and it is one of the cause of air pollution and respiratory diseases. BMS being
energy efficient is also one of its advantages. It could save at least 30% of energy, with lower
maintenance requirements compare to others. It is also easy to upgrade and update its features to
provide greater control of a building’s services, but for instances that if the system is too out-dated, it
may require a full replacement. Lastly BMS software can be accessed from anywhere using dashboards
and graphical representations of buildings of the user interface, which makes it easy to detect failures
and revolve it in just a span of time. Predictive analytics help prepare informational warnings that alert
the engineer about possible failures before they even happen.

As for the disadvantages of the Building Management System, data are difficult to acquire. That is why it
really requires highly skilled labour and personnel, for example, building engineer with knowledge in Big
Data and cloud-based analytics as well as high-end software to collect. Another disadvantage is that
BMS requires extensive research. Since small detail could lead to bigger problem that could cause for it
to not be able to use. And therefore, you would need professional assistance, for deciding the features
you need as well as for the installation of hardware and software, which is rather costly. Lastly, security
concerns are also a drawback/disadvantage of the BMS. We still have a way to go before we could make
completely dependable automated systems, since there are still gaps between soft wares and hardware
components that are vulnerable for attacks from cyber criminals and hackers that could compromise
safety.